Mama (1990 film)

Mama is a 1990 Chinese film directed by Zhang Yuan. Zhang Yuans directorial debut, Mama is now considered a seminal film in the history of Chinese independent cinema, and by extension, as a pioneering film of the Sixth Generation of which Zhang is a member. Shot on an extreme budget within Zhang Yuans apartment, Mama, follows the story of a mother and her grown mentally challenged son.

While the film was originally written to end on the dour note of the mother euthanizing her son, director Zhang Yuan eventually opted for a more openended and ambiguous conclusion.The film that was to become Mama began as a screenplay in the Childrens Film Studio for a film entitled The Sun Tree as based on a story by writer Dai Qing. Zhang Yuan at the time was still a student in the Beijing Film Academys cinematography department and was slated to serve as the films director of photography, with Fifth Generation graduate Sun Chen slated to direct. For three months, Zhang worked with screenwriter and planned lead actor Qin Yan and Sun storyboarding The Sun Tree. The studio, however, ultimately decided that the film was not profitable and canceled production. ........

Source: Wikipedia